Blogs of interest

FNsGoa supports Goanet, building community and social capital for a decade and more...

Boycott corrupt and communal politicians, don't give them social legitimacy

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Don't let Goa become another concrete jungle.

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Saturday, December 31, 2005

Goa's official NRI convention on Jan 3-4, 2006

Gomant Vishwa Sammelan, the Goa government's name for its annual
convention of expat Goans, is being held on January 3-4 at the Kala
Academy.

If one goes by the official programme, it promises to offer lots of official
speeches -- including an inauguration at 4.30 pm on Jan 3 "at the hands
of H.E. Shri S C Jamir, Governor of Goa in the distinguished presence of
Shri Francisco Sardinha, Hon'ble Speaker of the Goa Legislative
Assembly".

On January 4, what's promised is interactive sessions between 9.30 am
and 3.50 pm with the deputy CM and tourism minister Dr Wilfred de Souza,
and minister for education and industries, Luizinho Faleiro. Given the
trend of our politicians to talk-down to the voters, and do very little
listening, one wonders how "interactive" will interactive be.

Later, at 4.30 pm, there will be a 'face to face' with chief minister
Pratapsing Rane and former CM (now Opposition leader) Manohar Parrikar.

The program says there's not much on Jan 3, apart from floral welcomes,
variety entertainment, a dinner, and an address by the Governor.

For a state which has about the highest out-migration levels in the
world (according to anthropologists like Robert S Newman *), Goa has
done precious little for its expat community. So can we expect anything
but more platitudes?

Jan 4 programme will have a presentation on the industrial
"scenario" (9.30 am), a question-and-answer session with views of NRIs
and summing up (10.10 to 11.15 am), a presentation on the education
scenario (11.30 am to 12.20 pm), a presentation on the tourism scenario
(2.30 to 3.10 pm), another Q&A (3.10 to 3.50 pm), a Q&A with the CM and
the leader of the Opposition (4.10 to 5.30 pm) and a valedictory address
by the CM (at 5.30 pm).

---
* See Newman's essay, 'Goddess of Dreams, Homeland of Gold' in "Of
umbrellas, goddesses & dreams: Essays on Goan culture and Society",
Other India Press, Mapusa 2001. On page 89, he writes: "... well before
and even after (1961), Goans have been migrants to many parts of the
world. The experience of Diaspora, of being a stranger in a strange
land, has been a quintessentially Goan experience. Goa, along with
Greece, Ireland, Malta, Lebanon and some small Pacific island states,
must have one of the highest rates of migration in the world. For many,
other parts of India have been the lands of fortune. Many more have
earned their livelihoods in East Africa, the Gulf sheikhdoms, North
America, Portugal, England or Australia. In some parts of Goa, even
today, a great percentage of the men work on ships, roaming the world to
return only once in a year or eighteen months."]

Friday, December 30, 2005

Manipal, arogyacards, and Goa

There's an advertisement in The Hindu (once of my favourite newspapers)
or April 22, 2005, which shows Sunil Kambli of Goa, with his son Sahil.
He's quoted saying: "I never knew how Manipal ArogyaCard could be of
help, until it helped when my son fell ill".

The efficacy of private, profit-oriented healthcare is another debate.
Some hospitals are simply too costly, prescribe all kinds of superfluous
treatment, while others are fairly efficient. That's beyond this debate.

What is the subject here is the way in which patients from Goa are today
seen as a market for hospitals outside the state (mainly in coastal
Karnataka, Belgaum, Bangalore or elsewhere). Once, not too long ago, Goa
had a superior health care system, compared to its neighbouring outlying
areas. We looked down condescendingly on patients who came *here* for
treatment.

Now, the boot is on the other foot.

Firstly, we need to take note of the changing situation. Secondly, we
need to ask: how did we fall back? Was it, in part at least, because our
state opted to go in for a contractor-fuelled plan of having a
(near-giant) new Goa Medical College, while they don't even have the
funds to take care of basic usables in the health-care process?

GEM links... from Mumbai

They're sometimes called GEMS, short for Goans-East (Indians)-
Mangaloreans. Today, they form one marriage market (probably the most
stringent test of whether a group forms a 'community'). Of course, there
are caste and class divides, and regional ones too. It's not all hunky
dory.

But, when these small groups migrate, they tend to interact quite
closely. Cynthia Gomes-James was recently mentioning how she had was
part of the GEMS of Texas network.

For those interested in understanding more about the communities
involved, here are some recently-published books and CDs that might be
of interest:

* Trace is "a historical review of the East Indian Christians" by
Teddie J Rodrigues. Available in Mumbai from Marie Concessio
of Bandra 26006446 or Dorothy Rodrigues at Vila Parle
26119225 or C Pereira of Amboli 55833495 or Anskar Pereira at
20th Century Restaurant and Stores Opp Orlem Church Malad W.

* Directory of the Catholic Diocese of Vasai, priced at Rs 60,
available from the Examiner Press or with Lavy A D'Costa,
98193 77556. Postage extra. Copies also with the Bishop's
House, Barampur-Vasai or with Jeevan Darshan, Media
Commission, Giriz, Vasai. REleased on October 3, 2005.

* The Catholic Medical Guild, listing Catholic doctors of the
Archdiocese of Mumbai. Released in October 2005. Available
from Dr Neil Abreo on 2438 4858 from 10 am to 1 pm and
6 pm to 9 pm.

* A cookery book, 'Queen of the Kitchen' by Adrian and
Rochelle (nee Drego) Newnes), released in October 2005.
Has 13 sections of "delicious preparations and useful
information". Priced at Rs 100. Available from phone
26006457. Part of proceeds will be earmarked for a
scholarship in the names of Cyril and Fanny Drego and
William and Molly Newnes, to deserving children.

* East Indian cassettes and CDs recently released include
'East Indian Bhavarathchi Gaani'. Another CD "based on
the great booklet 'Cristpuran', written more than 350 years
ago in chaste East Indian language, is in the offing".
Hymn booklet also available. Contact Fr Borges at Kurla
25042573, Jacob Gomes at Kurla 2503 6889 or Alphonso
Tao of Parle 2064 3962, Candida D'Souza Mulgao 0250 2320025
and Cyril Fonseca of Thane 9821 113128.

And if any reader would like to gift me a copy of any of these books,
I'd be more than grateful. Not because of the cost, but due to the
difficulty of sourcing and getting across the books from Mumbai! --FN

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Quote... unquote: Jos Peter D'Souza on the death sentence and
capital punishment

Criminal lawyer Jos Peter D'Souza has this to say in the RENEWAL:

Since the recent judgement in Goa (a death sentence) was
delivered by a judge who professes the Catholic faith,
it would be interesting to look into the stand of the church
on the question of capital punishment....

And:

Most folks in Goa have forgotten about the last time
there was a hanging at Aguada Central Jail. The
hangman had to be brought in all the way from Calcutta.
The hanging did not even cause a ripple in our
society. Murders and rapes continued. A full generation
has passed. This time round, things are different.
No longer are people willing to be silent spectators when
there is a dead man walking. The Church here in Goa,
especially, will be expected to take up the debate.
After all, it has been vociferous on various social
issues, and this is a matter of life and death. The
question is, will it.

Peter, one of the young Goans who returned from Mumbai in the
'seventies, and is now a prominent lawyer based in Mapusa (handling a
number of narcotics cases in recent years), suggests that the Church
hates the sin, but never the sinner. He writes: "Abolition of the death
penalty is further testimony to our conviction that God is indeed the
Lord of life." He cites the statement on death penalty which came from
the Catholic Bishops of the United States in 1980.

Small world: Rajan P Parrikar

I ran into (literally, we had some strong-worded discussions earlier)
Rajan Parrikar, a Goan in the US, and we were talking how Hindus and
Catholics in Goa are like Christians and Jews in the West! This is
Rajan's comparison, and it makes sense. Sometimes aloof, sometimes
antagonistic, sometimes sharing with a lot of commonalities. (My theory
on this is that it's the press and the politician who has the biggest
stake in ensuring a continued divide.)

In the course of our discussions, I mentioned our Jewish anthropologist
friend Dr Robert S "Bob" Newman, who's coming down to Goa in a few
weeks time.... When I mentioned his wife Sudha's name, Rajan remembered
them clearly: as the lady who took walked in Sant Inez with a saree and
long-sleeved blouses, way back in 1979! Small world.

That was when Bob was doing his early research in Goa. We meet up in
1985 too, when I was a young journalist in the Herald.

Rajan grew up in Sant Inez. He studied in the Goa Engineering College,
and has worked for aerospace organisations in Silicon Valley. After an
antagonistic (almost) start to our exchanges, we found a lot of
commonalities. Including the fact that we are both passionate about the
Net, and are the same age!

You need to check out his many, well-informed (and sometimes hotly
argued) postings on Indian classical music at Usenet newsgroups (search
for "Rajan Parrikar" on http://groups.google.com ) and just yesterday
was baiting him into publishing his first book on the subject. He sure
knows this subject, and is extremely passionate about it.

Liturgical bread...

If you wondered where the host came from at Mass, here's this advert in
the 'Renewal' (the Goa church's official bulletin) which explains.
Apparently the 'liturgical bread' comes from St Joseph Church, Takwada,
Usgao in Ponda taluka. (Phone 2344342 or 9890 490343).The advert thanks
for the "unstinting support extended" and also says that due to taxes on
commodities, and the "purchase of a new cutter to improve the quality of
hosts" the price fo rthe same is being hiked.

Some initiatives include assisting the ALMs (which is "slowly but
steadily growing in stature in the suburbs"), helping the Talasari
schools, reaching out and expanding the membership of the association,
career guidance for the school boys (including aptitude tests), and
instituting scholarships in the names of Fr Edmund Carrasco SJ, Daphne
Gabriel, John Neef, William D'Souza. Some alumni who passed away
recently include Rocque Pereira and Capt Collin D'Cruz. Also remembered
are beloved former teachers Master Willie D'Souza and Master Mohanlal
Dutt (Hindi), according to a recent report.

Newman Choir ... in Mumbai

N Carneiro Alphonso has a recent update (The Examiner, Sept 10, 2005) on
the Newman Choir, founded by the late Fr J B Fernandes, after the 38th
International Eucharistic Congress in 1964 "from amongst the members of
massed choirs".

Norma writes: "When he retired in 1986, it ceased to exist. However, to
continue his good work of propagating sacred music, in 1999, his friends
and former choir members founded the Fr J B Fernandes Sacred Music
Foundation that presented many choral programmes in churches [in Mumbai]
by several other choirs from June 2001".

We're told that the Fr JB's own Newman Choir was revived the next year
and "since then, under the baton of Dr Rohan D'Souza, it has very
successfully given concerts at the Tata Theatre and St Andrew's
Auditorium in Bandra, besides Lenten programmes in churches" and "it has
now established itself as a major choral ensemble in the music life of
our city [Mumbai], which has its distinctive identity of presenting only
sacred music".

Currently, the choir consists of 80 members "of all ages and includes
professionals and students". They meet every Sunday evening for
rehearsal. Thanks for the update!

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

20, 45... random numbers at Goanetters' meet 2005

20, 45... random numbers at Goanetters' meet 2005

>From Frederick Noronha
Goanet-Goa

"Did you count whether 20 people are coming?" Cecil Pinto
asked. I laughed in reply; the estimate was as rough and
unpremeditated as the functioning of Goanet. Like this list
-- based on serendipity, goodwill and love-and-fresh-air --
the Goanetters meeting 2005 went ahead fairly smoothly too.

It wouldn't be too much of an exaggeration to
say we all learnt from one another. I almost
passed out to learn from Cynthia Gomes James,
who works with GE Logistics, that she got
45 email responses to one of her articles,
put out via the Goanet Reader. Now, that isn't
the kind of feedback one even gets from being
published in the main newspapers in Goa. You
wouldn't even have so many people stopping you
to offer feedback on the streets of Panjim.
Hey Cynthia, when is your book coming out?

Cecil and engineer-turned-writer Jose "Amazing Goa" Lourenco
were the first in. They were already tucked into what seemed
to be a meal; but it was 4 pm and we were a few minutes late.
Before Jose was a lone copy of his
yet-to-be-officially-released book on the churches of Goa.
Frankly, the printer in Goa has done a good job of the book
(not to speak of Jose's expectedly-good content). Hard to
believe that Jose could get this quality in Margao itself.

For his part, Cecil was unusually silent, despite my best
attempts to provoke him. He has apparently changed his
introductory punch-line, and now describes him as "world
famous all over Goa... and in coastal Karnataka".

In true Goanet style -- what would life be without a few
blatantly offtopic posts? -- we just wasted time in endlessly
introducing everyone to each one. Till Gerson da Cunha, the
Mumbai-based advertising guru Gerson da Cunha [1] asked
whether this was all that was going to happen.

By this time, some of our early guests had already
come, excused themselves and left. There was
Eddie Verdes and family, from the Gulf. Rajan
Parrikar, a Silicon Valley engineer who studied
at the Goa Engico (Engineering College, Farmaguddi)
is an e-friend via the s.c.i.g network [2] or [3].
(What's that, someone asked.) Rajan is active on
Usenet newsgroups like rec.music.indian.classical [4]
Someone once described him thus: "Rajan Parrikar's
strengths are as a critic: his observations are
intelligent, intricate, irreverent, spicy,
humorous, and venomous." Another poster said:
The Lester Bangs of Indian Classical Music.

Vivian "Shenzi" D'Souza came in from idyllic Succoro (Bardez)
but had to leave early.

Gerson spoke briefly about their work at AGNI -- the Action
for Good Governance and Networking in India. [5] He stressed
on the importance of citizens to raise their voice so that
governments are forced to take note.

Vivek Menezes, aka VM (or VM de Malar) [6], next presented
Goanet's plan to build a group blog, an initiative which he
would lead. VM, now in his thirties and resettled in Goa
after being abroad since the age of 13, narrated his
experiences with Goanet since its early days. He made the
point that diaspora issues are seldom covered by the media in
Goa. "For a community that is well-educated and wealthy, we
are quite primitive in deploying technology (to serve our
communication and other needs)," he argued.

[5] http://www.agnimumbai.org/
[6] vmingoa at gmail.com

VM pointed to the way in which blogs had changed the
mainstream media, and pointed to the recent example where
Goan scientist Helga Gomes (of Verna) had gone to Antarctica,
as part of a US mission, and had written a very interesting
blog about her work and voyage there.

"We need to shake-up the way we look at ourselves. Blogs can
have an explosive effect on media, society and culture," he
said. When VM made the point that the diaspora was
"disconnected" from Goa, others agreed that the Gomant Vishwa
Sammelan (the government-organised non-resident meet, this
year scheduled for Jan 3-4, 2006), as currently held, was a
"waste of time".

Other suggestions that came up included one
to share with non-residents the needs of Goa.
It was also argued that the heritage of Goa,
now under immense pressure whether from
commercialism or corruption in planning,
had to be projected to the diaspora and all
Goans as something which "exists, is
valuable, and which we all should care about".

Melinda Powell-Coutinho stressed the need for those away from
Goa to be aware of things, and stay connected. The former
Air-India air hostess said after living years in Goa, she was
still to come to terms with the local style of driving on the
roads, and the problem of garbage.

Manuel Caldeira, a Merceskar now in Moira, felt said that
some Goans wanted to do very little with their home. Veena
Patwardhan, of Cuncolim and Mumbai, said people seemed to
busy fighting private battles, while not being aware of the
wider problems that faced them, including political.

Others who spoke included Bailancho Saad's Albertina 'Tina'
Almeida, Anita Comelo, Ana Goswami, Miguel Braganza... and
help me to fill-in the missed out names here. Hermano Xavier,
a young Portuguese national of Goan-German origins, now doing
his higher studies on a Portugal-India exchange scholarship
at the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (Delhi), was
more in listening mode, though he does have a lot to
contribute. He runs the supergoa.com website and the
forum_portugal_goa@yahoogroups.com mailing list. See
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/forum_portugal_goa

"With many expats need an answer to the question of 'What can
we do?',' said Cynthia Gomes-James, who helped the formation
of a Goan-East Indian-Mangalorean group in the US, called the
GEMS of Texas. She suggested listing 'action points' via
Goanet, where readers across the globe could take a stand.
She also suggested a 'volunteers for Goa' project, where
young people could spend some months or a year doing some
constructive work here.

Anibel Ferrus-Comelo, who worked with labour
in the UK, pointed to the example of the
Filipino diaspora who were both the most
organised and politically conscious. Filipino
expats have 'exposure trips' to their own
country, where they could get a real idea
of what's happening in villages and schools,
she noted. She pointed to issues of migrants,
in the Middle East, Europe and elsewhere,
who were under pressure due to poor working
conditions, and often defenceless, contrary
to the perception of all expats doing well.

Various brief discussions followed. Some questions were
raised about 'social software' [7]

[Social software enables people to rendezvous, connect or
collaborate through computer-mediated communication and to
form online communities. Broadly conceived, this term could
encompass older media such as mailing lists and Usenet, but
some would restrict its meaning to more recent software
genres such as blogs and wikis. Others suggest that the term
social software is best used not to refer to a single type of
software, but rather to the use of two or more modes of
computer-mediated communication to engage in community
formation.]

[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_software

VM made a strong appeal against "the idea of ourselves being
continually defined by others". Gerson da Cunha stressed that
this could be "the last generation for whom Goa exists in the
way it is in our minds...." He said that as one speaks, Goa
was being changed. Across the Mandovi river, a monstrosity of
a Tata project was pointed to, coming up to disfigure the
once-green area.

"Cyberspace could be used to start a movement, to further a
cause," Gerson suggested. His offer to help the initiative
was appreciated by all. "Land-use changes are critical... I
don't think we will succeed, but we can put the sunset off
for awhile," he said.

"If *you* don't do it, it's not going to happen," was a
message that everyone left with. Besides the blog, and the
other initiatives cited above, Jose Lourenco offered to take
the leadership to build a Goanet-supported database of global
Goan skillsets. Gerson suggested Goanet look at specialist
'silos' focussing on news, the literary world, and causes.

Monday, December 26, 2005

Portraits on tiatrists

Alex A A Fernandes of Portrait Atelier -- portrait_atelier at yahoo.co.in -- has done some really great portrait photos of tiatrists of the Konkani stage. These people do deserve some recognition... as Goan society has largely looked down on their work, almost snobbishly!
Explains Alex: "I have (in mid-Nov) completed my series on contemporary Tiatriste. The whole process took about three weeks and was shot in my studio in Goa and Mumbai.... I initially planned to display these pictures (of 34 various artist who so graciously came forward to be photographed) at the IFFI. I had approached the authorities in charge of the festival to give these artists exclusive coverage in terms of gallery space at the INOX or the Kala Academy. I had decided to foot the whole bill for shooting the pictures plus framing them and printing an introductory brochure which gave a brief history for each artist.... It soon became apparent that the people responsible for the organisation of the events at the IFFI didn't want to see me or listen to what I had to say."

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Business Standard [1] has this report quoting "industry sources" in which Sreejiraj Eluvangal from Mumbai writes in a report (datelined 19, 2005) that Goa's five-star hotel rates are likely to scale a new peak next fortnight.
It says, "With increased air-connectivity and increasing number of Russian tourists, room-rates are higher by around 20 per cent from last year, with deluxe rooms going for around Rs 20,000 per night and five-star rates hovering around the Rs 15,000-mark."
20% seems like a gross underestimate. The entire tourism sector goes into hyperinflation here during the year-end cut-throat season. For instance, the Goa-Mumbai Volvo service in early January is quoting Rs 1500 for tickets which usually cost Rs 500! Obviously the government isn't unduly worried about unfair profiteering. But then, a large number of politicians also double up as hoteliers, transport operators and the like!
[1] Hotel tariff zooms up by 20 % in Goa

From an expat, in NZ

Ruth Desouza, senior research fellow and centre co-ordinator at the
Centre for Asian and Migrant Health Research of Auckland University of
Technology informs about a brief article she has written about The
Treaty and Indian communities. She says it's in a recent Global
Indian e-zine:http://www.theglobalindian.co.nz/uploads/Dec05TGI.pdf
Ruth cautions that the whole e-zine takes "a while" to download. And her
centre is part of the Centre for Asian and Migrant Health Research/
Faculty of Health & Environmental Science. You can email her at
ruth.desouza at aut.ac.nz or check out the website
http://www.aut-camhr.ac.nz

Monday, December 19, 2005

Systems of rice intensification

Was just reading (in Dams, Rivers and People Vol 3 Issue 8-9 Sept Oct
2005) a brief mention of the increase of rice production in rain-fed
areas of Cambodia due to SRI, or systems of rice intensification. This
is supported by the European Commission and GTZ (the German technology
agency). Unlike pesticide/fertilizer-based 'Green Revolution'
technologies, this is considered to be a sustainable manner of
increasing yields.

It is also reporting success from Andhra Pradesh. Does anyone know if
this is being/can be applied in a place like Goa?

A quote: SRI is becoming increasingly well-established paddy cultivation
method that consumes only as much water compared to the present normal
practice, requires only two kgs/acre of seed, involves early
transplantation of single seedlings (8-10 days old) with spacing of
25x25 cm, less use of chemical fertilizers, and yeild that is double the
normal practice. The food grain produced is better for health as the
application of chemical inputs is reduced...

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Expat Goan, returning home, finds enterprise here isn't a gift

EXPAT GOAN, RETURNING HOME, FINDS ENTERPRISE HERE ISN'T A GIFT

By Frederick Noronha
fred at bytesforall.org

"I love my Goa," says 65-year-old Manuel Caldeira, as he
enters into his home's gate, in the quaintly-named Novo
Portugal (literally, New Portugal) locality of the North Goa
village of Moira. Like many in these emigration-prone parts
of Goa, Caldeira spent a large part of his life away from
home -- in Portugal, Germany, Greece, Algeria and Canada.

But, despite the longing to return, today he has
one word of advice for anyone wanting to exercise
their enterprise here: don't.

Back in Goa for two years, he came loaded with enthusiasm and
plans to craft his long-time hobby of ceramic work into a
cottage industry here. "I didn't come with money, but with
tools, techniques and ideas," he says. He was however in for
a rude shock. His plans got stuck in the ground for a number
of complex reasons, which reflect the reality of current-day
Goa.

Scattered across his large home are tiles, some
ready for dispatch in boxes, with various Goan
motifs. But this one-time student of civil
engineering in Portugal, and former aeronautical
engineer from the Technical University of Berlin,
certainly hasn't been having it easy.

Caldeira's roots go back to Merces and Chandor, but he opted
for life in Moira, as he finds semi-urban Merces at least too
crowded. While an engineer for 27 years serving with North
American corporates -- like Northern Telecom, Allied Signals
and ITT as its software quality assurance manager -- he kept
his interest alive.

He spent his spare time over 15 years at trade-shows, gift
shows and wood-craft shows, picking up hints about the
workings of the global gift industry. "Countries like
Thailand have well-crafted gift industries. But I realised
that India's gift industry is probably less than five per
cent that of North America's. Unlike the other countries, we
don't use sophisticated tools and processes for the
production of gift items," he says.

So, when he came back, he brought a forty-foot container
packed mainly with tools and the technical support to create
what he believes could be a centre "excellence in the craft
industry in India".

But can a cottage-industry run out of a cottage? This is an
issue he's currently trying to sort out with the authorities,
and a small number of complaining neighbours.

Goa Handicraft, he says, told him that no NOC (no-objection
certificate) is needed by a cottage industry. But complaints
from a neighbour led him to be visited once by the sarpanch,
thrice by the health officials, twice by pollution control
authorities from Panjim, once by the tax department from
Panjim, twice by the electricity department from Mapusa, and
once by the deputy collector from North Goa and even by the
police inspector at nearby Mapusa.

In one visit, Caldeira claims the police came in with two
weeks with nearly a dozen people to take him and his wife
into custody. He has been fined Rs 63,481 by the electricity
department too.

But currently, this man with an unusual past,
believes he can stick on. Caldeira left for Lisbon
at the age of 19 to study engineering, and was the
first Goan student after the end of colonial rule
to leave Portugal to become Indian citizen in
Paris. In 1964, while studying at the Technical
University in Berlin, he crossed swords with the
pro-Portuguese Goan movement who he sees as having
been then linked to subversive activities in Goa.

But it was the gifts sector that has been a long-time
passion. "Today, most countries use sophisticated tools,
processes, packaging and make quality products at competitive
price and have good customer reputation," he says. But he
feels that India has a lot of catching up to do.

For a state which promises the red-carpet to
its large number of emigrant sons and daughters,
cases like these throw up inconvenient questions.
Does Goa encourage the small entrepreneur, a sector
which could bring about big change if replicated
across a sufficient number of cases? How does the
state balance neighbourhood concerns with
with entrepreneurial intent? Above all, for a
state notorious in allowing big industry to
get away with the open violation of the law,
what yardstack does it use for the small player?

"In North America," argues an angry Caldeira, "it takes less
then 20 minutes to register your tiny enterprise or small
scale industrial (SSI) unit with the authorities. After
registration, you can manufacture and sell the product and
the contribute tax to the Government."

But, he sees Goa as being vastly different. Says he: "There
is very little interface with the government here. In Goa, we
have a (bureaucratic) government system with all possible
obstacles to kill progress. The bottom and the top of
governance is mostly rotten in Goa."

Goa, he believes, is both beautiful and rich in resources.
"But some people with a mediocre mentality have embraced
corruption, killing prosperity and this is one of the reasons
why every investment is running away (from here). Unless
there is a dramatic change in Goa, nobody, including NRIs,
should come back to become victims of jealousy and
corruption," says he.

"(Officials) they tell me this is Goa and you have to follow
our rules. There are many cases in the villages where the
government officials have no mercy of poor. I was told that a
poor farmer had to sell three goats to get the job done; a
single mother with two kids had to pay 5,000 rupees to
official to get her child admitted in the school...," an
embittered Caldeira alleges.

He sees the multiple-NOC (no-objection certificate) system as
a dubious, if not questionable, procedure. It allows for
blocking and extortion at varying levels, he suggests.
Caldeira argues for ending the NOC system and having a more
effective and clean manner of approving useful proposals
while balancing diverse interests. Besides, he suggests, the
government authorities should make public the time required
to process every document, including in the judicial area.
These are the basic actions needed for urgent changes to be
introduced "to get the wheel of prosperity in Goa in motion",
He says.

There were other challenges in working to make
things work in a place like Goa, where he dreamt
of creating "export-quality products".

Training local skills was the first challenge, as much of his
equipment was not known here. He then could also not run the
electric motors, because they use a 60 Hertz circuitry and
not the 50 Herts prevalent in Goa. Then, all his cutting
tools have carbide components, and he could not find a single
source for sharpening the same in Goa and in Mumbai!

"There are no sanding materials available for my different
sanding equipment. There are too many power interruptions
during the rainy season. The rainy weather is hard on the
tools and is not good for woodworking. Wood is expensive
here, not kiln dried, the quality is not consistent and
supply is limited. So I shifted to ceramics," he explains.

Ceramics is considered eco-friendly, and it is still in its
infancy in India as compared to the situation in other
countries. "It could employs a lot of un-skilled labour, well
suited to rural areas and only few resources need to be
imported. Most of ceramic manufacturers in India are located
in the north (of the country) and it is an opportunity for
Goa to take the leadership for the south," argues Caldeira.

Plans for his firm Manuel Ceramics (MC), a tiny enterprise
registered with the Department of Industry and Mines, has its
goal to design and make export-quality ceramic items of bone
China, stoneware and red clay, to make ceramic decorated
tiles, plates, coasters, beer mugs, souvenirs, dinnerware,
mirrors, jewelry and one day even furniture.

Processing of 8"x10” ceramic tiles is done mainly by tile
manufactures. But he believes that his unit could change
this, producing images of religious and other monuments,
sceneries and decorative images. So, he employed three
fine-art graduates and six support staff, to create
multicolour tiles with Goan and Indian designs -- including
depictions of wild life, Madhubani art, and the Ashtavinay
(popular Indian religious icons).

Strewn across his sitting-room in his large home,
he has wooden-framed ceramic work packaged and
titled 'Beautiful Goa' with the coconut-leaves
design on it. "To maintain quality of our product
we also make the wood frames. We also created
clocks using the design of Goan shell windows.
Then, we created a 'Demikombo', a rooster with a
head of Goan. Demikombos will be decorated with
coconut leaves and different Goan images," he
explains.

Caldeira believes he could introduce to Goa the slip-casting
process,'Demikombo' beer stains, souvenirs, dinnerware
statues and tall vases. His dreams of exhibiting in the
Fontainhas Festival of the Arts and the International Film
Festival of India didn't come true, with the authorities
undertaking multiple investigations, follow-ups and stop-work
orders.

Caldeira says he told the authorities that he was creating
"real long term opportunities for our unemployed youth". But
the message, he says, wasn't received with enthusiasm.

Village authorities, following the complaints, ordered him to
stop all his work activities. "This results in a big loss for
NRI investments, a loss of genuine dreams to contribute for a
prosperous Goa," as he sees it, but obviously others taking a
different perspective would see things differently.

"My operation is a cottage or tiny enterprise and does not
belong to industrial category. It is malicious to call my
operation an industrial operation, which allows the
authorities and complainants to beat me with a heavier stick.
In Goa, industrial units are only found in industrial
estates, segregated from the rest of population by a security
wall and security guards. Abroad tiny enterprises and SSI
units could be found everywhere," he argues.

Caldeira argues that he knows places in downtown Vancouver
with more than fifty employees doing manufacturing work.

But, while these issues can be debated, Goa does have the
odds against it -- official claims notwithstanding -- when it
comes to unleashing the entrepreneurial skills of its own
citizens, its siezably-large diaspora, and also potential
migrants who have something positive to contribute here
rather than just be lured in by talk of subsidies and
misutilised bank-loans. (ENDS)

She's a real-life hometown hero, a fiercely loyal daughter of Verna who studied entirely in Goan schools before heading off in pursuit of scientific excellence. Here, we're taking down the bright lights of IFFI and turning into the peak of high season. Meanwhile, Dr. Helga do Rosario Gomes is aboard an icebreaking ship near Antarctica, surrounded by giant ice floes and penguins, and the apparatus of a world-class scientific expedition.

And...

Anyway, some time in the coming weeks, a car will turn into the old Verna road and there will be an eager, perhaps slightly frozen-looking, face carefully checking the old neighborhood for changes. All that forbidding ice and those fickle penguins left far behind; Dr. Helga do Rosario Gomes will be home again. Till that happy moment, our thoughts and prayers go with her into that frozen frontier. We're rooting for you, Helga, stay warm.

Co-operative banks... and politicians

For long, I've been intrigued by the relationship between co-operative
banks and politicians. Like in the case of many other issues in Goa, we
have little 'literature' on this subject, and hence it becomes difficult
to comprehend its manifold ramifications.

Just yesterday, a friend who understands the subject well (having been
part of these banks for a couple of generations), made some interesting
observations on what makes these links grow. Looking forward to any
other feedback and debate.

Obviously, the co-op banks are a source of funds and influence for
politicians. If you can give friends access to "loans" (often unrepaid
or with repayment stretched endlessly) huge sums of (undeserved) monies,
it makes you all that more powerful. More so, in a small state.

Like government-funded schools and (sometimes) colleges, handing out
jobs to friends and family is another source of influence and encashable
political clout. Likewise, it's a source for funding elections, and
meeting the liquidity-needs of politicians.

[This is not to suggest that the co-op banks are the only -- or even a
major -- source of politicians liquidity in today's Goa. But it is one,
little-understood source that has been effectively working for long,
before the arrival of many of the monied lobbies we see at play in Goa
today -- real-estate, money-lending, luxury tourism, big industry,
village-level political corruption, the harvest-the-ecology lobby etc.]

Interestingly, one learnt that politicians actually could be using the
co-op banks to turn 'black' (untaxed) money into 'white' (legit). They
take loans to launch their projects from the co-ops, and then show as if
they're repaying the same from legitimate incomes!

It's a win-win-win situation for the politician. When elections are
near, funds are at hand. If they win the elections, they have more
additional 'sources' by which to repay the loans (which they, in any
case, need not be in a hurry to repay). If they repay, that can also be
a channel for converting black-money-into-white. If they lose, the 'bad
debts' can be written off.

One cycnical response to this trend was the fact that former CM Manohar
Parrikar used the bank issue to squeeze his former ally Ramakant Khalap,
though both had a peaceful modus vivendi over the way Khalap ran his
Mapusa Urban Co-op 'Bank of Goa' when they were allies together in the
BJP!

My guess is that in information-poor Goa, most of the citizens don't
even have a clue of the major forces having an influence on their lives
and day-to-day existing.

We tend to ignore the issue, since we don't understand it. But it is
around all the same... and won't go away simply if we wish it to. FN

News from Lila's

Apurva "Apu" Kulkarni <deochar at yahoo.com> writes in to say: "My
apologies: Lila won't be reopening on the 7th (of December). It is
suspended for an indefinite period of time. Please bear with us.
Thank you! Apurva."

Sorry to hear that! Lila's was a good initiative (in Sant Inez, Panjim)
to showcase the arts and other talent.

Another Sea Harrier crashes...

Below are some articles written in the past. Unfortunately, the media in New Delhi doesn't seem to see this as much of an issue. Maybe it has nothing to do with the location of Dabolim, but more to do with the choice of the Sea Harriers as a suitable aircraft costing billions ofrupees. FN

PS: All the articles date back to past years, maybe two or more.

PPS: The second report is not related to Sea Harriers, and has to do with a mid-air collision. But there could be some pointers there....

Goa sees latest in string of Sea Harrier crashes; airport back in action
From Frederick Noronha

Before noon Thursday, an Indian Navy Sea Harrier crash-landed. Two pilots, including a trainee, ejected safely. The aircraft is learnt to have crashed on the runway during landing at a short height.

Traffic at Dabolim, Goa's lone airport that gets international flights on the weekends, was temporarily closed. Incomding flights from nearby Indian cities were delayed at their respective airports.

In 1983-1984, India obtained a batch of six Sea Harrier Mark 51s, apart from two tandem-seat "T.60s" for use off their carrier INS Vikrant.

Ten more Mark 51s and a T.60 were ordered in 1985 and delivered in 1989-1991, with another batch of seven Mark 51s and a fourth T.60 ordered and delivered after that, for a total of 23 Mark 51s and four T.60s. Two more T.60s, which were modified from RAF surplus T.4s, wereobtained in the 1990s as attrition replacements.

The Indian Sea Harriers have operated off both the aircraft-carrier Vikrant and the INS Viraat, previously the HMS Hermes. The Vikrant was refitted with a ski jump in 1991, which forced the retirement of the carrier's French Breguet Alize maritime patrol aircraft. The Vikrant was retired in in 1996 but the Viraat, with a 12-degree ski jump,stayed on in service.

Military statistics indicate however that a number of Sea Harriers have been lost in accidents here. This includes losses during accidents in May 1988 (near Goa), June 1988 (Chengalpatu district), June 1992, Dec 1992, Aug 1994, Feb 1996 (missing during nightflying oversea from Goa), Sept 1997 (in the sea off Goa), Nov 1998 (in Indian Ocean), May 2001(near Canacona, Goa), Aug 2003 (off the Goa sea).

The Sea Harrier, as its "FRS" (flight-reconnaissance-strike) designation implied, was intended to be a multi-role aircraft, suitedfor air combat.

As its primary target was expected to be Soviet Bear-class turboprop reconnaissance and missile-attack aircraft, the Sea Harrier's subsonic speed was not regarded as a major limitation.

The Harrier emerged from the P.1127 / Kestrel by a complicated and more-or-less lucky sequence of events. The aircraft that resulted, though suffering from a number of limitations in performance, range, and warload, proved extremely useful, and became an important front-line asset for both the Royal Air Force and the US Marine Corps(USMC).

However beginning in the early 1970s the first of a new class of "through deck cruisers" was planned, carefully named to avoid the term "aircraft carrier" to increase the chances of funding.

These ships would eventually become the Invincible class aircraft carriers. With little modification, a 'ski-jump' was added to the end of the 170m deck, the carriers could operate a small number of STOVLjets.

In Britain, earlier versions of the Sea Harrier were ordered by the Royal Navy in 1975. Sea Harriers claimed successes in air combat in the Falklands (or the Malvinas) War with Argentina.

India purchased 24 Sea Harrier FRS.51s, a version of FRS.1, 23 of which remain in service.

In 2002 the UK Ministry of Defence announced plans to withdraw the Sea Harrier from service by 2006. The aircraft's replacement, the Lockheed-Northrop-BAE F-35, is not due until 2012 at the earliest however the UK's Ministry of Defence argues that significant expenditure would be required to upgrade the fleet for only six yearsservice.

Sea Harriers are capable of vertical/short take off and landing (VSTOL). Figures here indicate that the Indian Navy currently has some 17 Sea Harriers in its fleet, costing according to unofficial figuresapprox US$9 million each. (ENDS)

TOP PRIORITY * FIELD REPORT * URGENT

By Frederick Noronha

VASCO DA GAMA (Goa), Oct 1: Carpenters and other workers putting on finishing touches on a bungalow at Goa's port town of Vasco da Gama watched with amazement at the aerial fly-past, till they realised thatthe Ilyushins flying overhead were about to come crashing down on them.

"There are three bodies in the next room," said a shattered Prabhakar Acharya, 44, a migrant-carpenter from the coastal Karnataka region of Udupi. He was one of those lucky to escape from a bungalow being constructed, after a mid-air collision of the two crafts here Tuesdaymorning.

This time, it wasn't one of the V/STOL (Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing) Sea Harriers -- quite a few of which have crashed in recent years -- that was making news. This time it was the relatively safe IL38, purchased from the erstwhile Soviet Union.

Ironically, the day of the tragedy -- which killed 15 people -- was to have marked the 25th anniversary and 30,000 hours of accident-free flying of Squadron 315. This squadron is made up of premier maritimereconnaisance Ilyushin 38 aircrafts.

The IL-38 is considered a "potent anti-submarine, anti-surface vessel platform", Navy officials had said prior to the illfated event. This squadron has participated in all major operations and exercises conducted by the Indian Navy since her commissioning on October 1,1977.

Flag Officer Goa Area Rear Admiral Sunil Damle voiced regret at a late evening press conference at the loss of the 12 navy officers and men. They have been identified as Lt Commanders R Saini, S K Yadav and Jaideep Dutta; Chief Air Artificer V Kumar, MCPOR J P Singh.

Indian Navy officials here also said the incident occurred at 9.45 am, and added that the colleagues were "highly experienced" fliers. Initial official reports said it was unclear the accident was caused bymechanical failure, malfunction or human reasons.

Both the Ilyushin Soviet-build crafts crashed just close to Goa's lone Navy-controlled Dabolim airport, and on a hillock on the outskirts of this coastal state's port town which is home to the sprawling navalstation.

One craft ploughed into the half-finished bungalow, while the other ended up as mangled parts in a fenced-off area across a road, less than a kilometre away. Nearby, at a few hundred metres distance, is acollege where clesses were underway.

By afternoon, Goa fire force personnel were seen tearing down the rubble, trying to rescue workers possibly still trapped inside. Crowds were seen thronging to the venue to the mishap, to see the hard-to-believe site, atop a hillock overlooking the azure Arabian Sea.

"We were looking at it (the crafts in the sky) and within two minutes we realised that one of the planes was hurtling down at us," Acharya, from the village of Hangargatti in nearby South Karnataka's Udipi taluktold this correspondent, speaking in Hindi.

On the site, Navymen were quick to cordon off the area.

Vasco-da-Gama, a crowded port town of nearly 100,000 named after a sixteenth century Portuguese explorer and today a navy base, was largely plunged into a power-failure, as one of the crashing aircrafts ploughed also into a 33KV hightension line supplying power to the area, before grinding to a halt largely wrecked.

Goa is home to INS Hansa, India's premier naval air base. Currently this small state is considered to have the country's largest naval airstation.

In recent years, it has however been plagued by repeated air crashes of its vertical-takeoff Sea Harrier aircrafts, for unexplained reasons.

Besides being home to the IL 38, the maritime anti-submarine aircraft built by the former USSR and part of Squadron 315, Goa has also been home to the French-built turbo-prop Alize aircrafts, the Sea Harriers, the Soviet TU142Ms, Kamov 25 anti-submarine helicopters, and Chetakhelicopters, among others.

Monday, December 05, 2005

ControlNet India, a 100% subsidiary of Campbell, CA-based ControlNet Inc. has announced officially that it was recently bought over by Persistent Systems, an outsourced software product development company, for approximately US $2 Million (Rs. 9 crores). See the details at this list-post.